Combined backrest and bed widening extension for couches



NW1 15, 1955 REDE 2,723,401

COMBINED BACKREST AND BED WIDENING EXTENSION FOR COUCHES Filed Dec. 11, 1951 1512452111 Ban 1/012: /A/VEA/f0 United States Patent Office COMBINED BACKREST AND .BED WIDENING EXTENSION FOR COUCHES Elizabeth Brede-Horst, Los Angeles, Calif. Application December 11, 1951, Serial No. 261,026 4 Claims. (Cl. 5-37) This invention relates to an attachment for conventional couches which comprises an elongated member which is attachable to the couch in such a manner as to be swingable between two positions, in one of which it forms a backrest for a person seated upon the couch, and in the other of which it rearwardly widens the bed forming portion of the couch.

The invention is more particularly intended as an attachment for studio couches, such couches being preferred to twin beds by young people, bachelors and others, because when such couches are used the same room functions as a living room and as a bedroom. A couch of this kind is not comfortable to sit upon unless provided with a bolster or cushion to serve as a backrest. If the couch is used as a bed at night the backrest has to be removed and put out of the way. The ordinary studio couch, being less than a yard wide, is not comfortable to sleep on.

Although it is not broadly new in the art to which this invention pertains to provide a couch with a member hinged thereto in such a manner that it may in one position serve as a backrest and in another position widen the bed, yet there" remains considerable room for improvement upon this feature of the prior art, one defect therein being the lack of provision of any such device that can readily be attached to couches already on the market without making any appreciable changes in their structure.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which, illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the complete device with the drop cushion shown in full lines in the bed extending position and in dotted lines in the backrest position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the novel means for attaching the drop cushion extension to a conventional studio couch, the drop cushion being shown in its upstanding position which it occupies when the couch is being used as a davenport. Parts are broken away in order to disclose underlying structure.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 except that additional structure is broken away and the adjustable extension is shown in the position wherein it widens the couch for use as a bed.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a conventional studio couch body 5 is therein shown, supported at each corner by legs 6, one of which is shown. The couch is suitably upholstered and covered throughout, the covering including a drape or apron portion 8 which is shown extending nearly to the floor.

The invention pertains to the provision of a combined backrest and bed extension member 10 and the means whereby said member is detachably mounted upon the aforesaid couch body 5 in a vertically adjustable mannet and also to swing through an angle of 180 degrees 2,723,401 Patented Nov. 15, 1955 from the backrest forming position as shown in Fig. 2 to the bed widening position shown in Fig. 3, and vice versa.

As best illustrated in Fig. 3 each back leg 6 of the couch is provided upon its back surface with a broad vertical cut out or elongated recess 11 which is dimensioned to countersink into each back leg structure presently to be described. Each said recess extends to the outer edge of the leg and terminates a short distance above the lower end of the leg, so that the part of the leg below the lower end of said recess forms an upwardly facing ledge or shoulder.

The aforesaid elongated recess 11 affords a countersink within which the greater part of a sheet metal sleeve or channel shaped member 15 of a flattened character, as viewed in cross section, is secured to the back surface of the leg in such a position that the outer face of said sleeve is flush with the outer surface of the lower end portion of the leg, said sleeve having a vertical slot 16 along the midwidth portion of its back side of sufficient width to permit a screwdriver to be used to put in place screws 17 (one of which is shown in Fig. 2) whereby the sleeves are attached to the rear legs 6 of the couch. The upper part of said sleeve overlies the couch body 5 and extends up to within a short distance of the upper surface of said body, and the lower end thereof is shown engaging the aforesaid ledge.

Viewing the aforesaid swingable member 10 in its backrest forming position, a metal strap 18 extends transversely thereof in an underlying secured relation to each of its end portions.

Said metal strap is attached to the lower edge of a plate-like end piece 19 the upper edge portion of which abuts against and is secured to the adjacent outer end of a top frame piece 20 which extends from end to end of the swingable member 10. Said member 10 is stuffed with upholstery 10a throughout its entire interior cross section.

The metal Strap 18 forms the shorter, swingable limb of one member of a pair of hinges wherein each hinge includes a pivot portion 21 which unites said hinge limb 18 to a longer hinge limb 22, the latter limb being nonswingable and slidably and removably fitted within the aforesaid sleeve or channel shaped member 15, which forms a vertically elongated guide for said hinge limb 22.

When the swingable member 10 is in its downswung position its weight is supported by the pair of longer hinge limbs, these longer hinge limbs and the sleeves which they occupy being of a sufiiciently sturdy character thus to support the downswung member together with such portion of the Weight of a person as may be imposed thereupon when the couch is used as a bed.

The swingable member 10 is shown having the crosssectional shape of a trapezoid wherein one of the nonparallel sides, designated 25 in Fig. 2, extends at a right angle to the two parallel sides, said one side forming a substantially flat face which is swingable between the vertical positions, in one of which, in a flatwise manner, it abuts the rear side of the couch body 5, and in the other of which it is abuttable in a flatwise manner against the wall of a room when the couch is placed alongside said wall, as is desirable during daytime use. However, it is not necessary to abut said swingable member against a wall to maintain it in its backrest forming position, for it has a front side which inclines backwardly all the way from bottom to top and therefore said member does not tilt backwardly when a person sitting upon the couch leans backwardly against it.

That face or side 26 of the swingable member 10 which is opposite to its said side 25, by preference and as shown, is somewhat arcuate and inclines downwardly toward the front of the couch when said swingable member is in the backrest forming position. At that time it narrows the exposed upper surface of the couch so that the back of a person seated thereon comes into contact with said backrest.

The attached corner portion of the swingable member is necessarily of a somewhat rounded character, and due to this fact and to the yielding nature of the fabric with which it is cushioned and covered, the long hinge limbs 22 will be drawn upwardly a short distance in the sleeves during the upswing of the member 10, so that the lower end of each of said limbs is spaced somewhat above the lower end of the aforesaid channel 11 and of the sleeve therein, as shown in Fig. 2, when said swingable member is in the backrest forming position. When the swingable member 10 is in its lowered, backswung position the curled, midlength portions 21 of the hinges rest upon the upper ends of the sleeves 15 and preferably at the same time the lower ends of the hinge limbs 22 rest upon the aforesaid ledges at the lower ends of the cut-outs or recesses 11.

I claim:

1. In a couch structure, a couch body, a front and a rear pair of legs supporting said couch body, an elongated guide of rigid material in a secured vertically extending relation to the back side of the upper part of each of said rear pair of legs, an elongated combination backrest and couch extension member having as viewed in cross section a right angular corner portion at the juncture of two flat side faces, a hinge at each end of said member comprising two pivotally joined limbs, one of said limbs being swingable and rigidly attached to said backrest member and the other of said limbs being vertically slidable within a said guide at its end of the structure, thus mounting said swingable member in a position wherein it is swingable from one to the other of two positions in one of which one of its aforesaid faces overlies the rear part of the couch and supports said member in a position wherein it forms a backrest for a person seated on the couch and in the other of which it rearwardly widens the body supporting surface of the couch a substantial amount, said hinge structure comprising an enlarged joint portion which projects rearwardly in relation to the couch when said member is in the backrest forming position said joint then being slightly above the rear side of the couch body and during the downswing of said member to the couch widening position said joint portion descending slightly so as to bring the upper surface of the downswung member on substantially the same level as the upper side of the couch body.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and said elongated guides consisting of vertical sleeves within which slide said vertical limbs of said hinges.

3. In a couch structure, a seat forming couch body, supporting means for said body including rear corner legs, an elongated, combination backrest and bed extension member, said member comprising a horizontal top piece and a thick plate secured to each end of said top piece and abutting fiatwise against the adjacent end surface of the latter, two hinges swingably connecting the aforesaid elongated member to said couch body to swing between two positions in one of which it forms a backrest and in the other of which it rearwardly widens the couch body a substantial amount for use as a bed, each of said hinges comprising the swingable limb and a non-swingable limb, the swingable limb of each hinge being secured to an edge surface of a said thick plate at its end of the couch, an elongated vertical guide member for each of said non-swingable hinge limbs, one of said guide members being attached to the rear side of one of said rear corner legs and the other guide member being attached to the rear side of the other rear leg, the non-swingable hinge limbs with which said guide members are associated being slidable within them, and means to arrest the downward movement of the nonswingable hinge limbs in said guide members, said backrest member being downswingable through an angle of degrees during which swing the joint portions of said hinges descend from points slightly above the top of: the couch body to points slightly therebelow.

4. In a structure of the kind described, an elongated backrest and bed width extension member having extending along its length a rightangular corner portion, a hinge member attached to each end of said backrest, said hinge members each comprising a pivot located at said corner portion of its end of the backrest, said hinge members being usable to attach said backrest to a bed at the upper edge of the back side of the latter to swing to and from a forward backrest forming position wherein one of the rightangularly joined sides of the backrest seats upon the rear part of the top surface of the bed, said backrest being trapezoidal in cross section, said backrest having a wide bottom and a top parallel to and substantially narrower than said base, a back side perpendicular to said top and bottom and a front side extending diagonally rearwardly from the front of said base to the front of said top to prevent back tilting of the backrest member when a person seated on the bed leans backwardly thereagainst.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 570,208 Harry Oct. 27, 1896 848,001 Berninghaus Mar. 26, 1907 1,139,785 Luppino May 8, 1915 2,069,604 Elliman Feb. 2, 1937 2,236,753 Foster Apr. 1, 1941 2,663,878 Backus Dec. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 43,501 Norway Jan. 16, 1918 273,669 Switzerland Feb. 28, 1951 424,108 Italy Aug. 5, 1947 578,867 Germany June 17, 1933 819,066 France Oct. 9, 1937 

